A Barb the Zany Old Lady Highly Recommended Read – Page 2

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Twelve years ago, Gabe Savage let his best friend’s brother get away. In fact, he encouraged him to leave Bluewater Bay by breaking off with him before they even got started, because he knew the artist within Lucas Wilder would never have a chance to fully develop if he stayed in this small backwoods town. Now, Gabe wants him back, and unknown to Lucas, this Gabe has all the patience in the world. All he has to do is treat Lucas like a skittish colt and wait for him to see that they belong together.

In the meantime, Lucas comes back to Bluewater Bay only because his best friend, Audrey, is marrying his brother—a fact he is shocked to learn. He’s to be her Man of Honor, and once the shock wears off, he packs up and heads north. Then he learns that Gabe Savage, that sexy redhead with the body of a real man, is going to be the Best Man, and he wants to run back to California.

Lucas has recently broken up with his partner, and since they not only owned a home together, but Lucas sold most of his artwork in his partner’s gallery, Lucas feels alone and adrift, unable to decide where to relocate so that he can pursue his art. Bluewater Bay is the last place he’d want to settle, but Audrey actually does him a favor by dragging him home. It’s not until she coerces Lucas into sculpting favors for her wedding, and she suggests that he can set up a studio at Gabe’s tree farm, that Lucas starts to suspect that there may be a master plan in place.

Gabe had never really believed that Lucas would return to town, but now that he has, he’s willing to go along with Audrey and her fiancé Zach and provide the space for Lucas. There’s certainly a better chance that he’ll have the opportunity to explain that he never meant to break Lucas’s heart all those years ago; at least, he hopes he can get the chance. He does get that chance, and eventually more, and the two pick up where they left off and go much further than either expected. Both men have matured, and Gabe is the macho, big, sweaty male that Lucas finds extremely hot and dominating in their relationship. Lucas is the kinky, sexy, subservient guy of Gabe’s dreams. But neither has learned to truly communicate their feelings, and they seem headed to disaster as the wedding approaches, and Lucas prepares to leave.

This one is my favorite in the Bluewater Bay series, so far. It amazes me that so many wonderful authors have come together to create this series in which each book is distinctive, yet fits in the series, often has overlapping characters, yet brings its own unique and interesting story to light. Anne Tenino has done an outstanding job with this one. There’s some angst and heartache for both men as they work through their past and show fear for their future. But there’s also humor, amazing secondary characters (Lucas’s father and his pot-growing operation for one), and there’s hope, romance and an emotional journey that brings them to deep and abiding love.

A super story! This can easily be read as a standalone as there’s little overlap with characters from other books. It’s for all those who enjoy reading about reunited lovers, hairy, sexy outdoorsmen, artists who see the beauty all around them, and just simply for all lovers of M/M romance. Don’t hesitate to pick this up.
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Cover design by LC Chase depicts two handsome young men—one dressed casually, one as a rugged outdoorsman—superimposed on a background of a barn and rural scenery. This photo matches both the MC’s and the story content perfectly.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing – All Romance (ARe) – Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 325 pages
Published April 13th 2015 by Riptide Publishing (first published April 11th 2015)
original titleWedding Favors
ISBN139781626492929
edition languageEnglish
seriesBluewater Bay #7
charactersLucas Wilder, Gabriel Savage

Bluewater Bay Universe….

Welcome to Bluewater Bay! This quiet little logging town on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula has been stagnating for decades, on the verge of ghost town status. Until a television crew moves in to film Wolf’s Landing, a soon-to-be cult hit based on the wildly successful shifter novels penned by local author Hunter Easton.

Wolf’s Landing’s success spawns everything from merchandise to movie talks, and Bluewater Bay explodes into a mecca for fans and tourists alike. The locals still aren’t quite sure what to make of all this—the town is rejuvenated, but at what cost? And the Hollywood-based production crew is out of their element in this small, mossy seaside locale. Needless to say, sparks fly.

This collaborative story world is brought to you by eleven award-winning, best-selling LGBTQ romance authors: L.A. Witt, L.B. Gregg, Z.A. Maxfield, Aleksandr Voinov, Heidi Belleau, Rachel Haimowitz, Anne Tenino, Amy Lane, SE Jakes, G.B. Gordon, and Jaime Samms. Each contemporary novel stands alone, but all are built around the town and the people of Bluewater Bay and the Wolf’s Landing media empire.

Books in this Universe include with links to our reviews:

Starstruck (Bluewater Bay #1) by L.A. Witt
There’s Something About Ari (Bluewater Bay #2) by L.B. Gregg
Hell on Wheels (Bluewater Bay #3) by Z.A. Maxfield
Lone Wolf (Bluewater Bay #4) by Aleksandr Voinov
The Burnt Toast B&B (Bluewater Bay #5) by Heidi Belleau & Rachel Haimowitz
Lights, Camera, Cupid (A Bluewater Bay Valentine’s Day Anthology; Bluewater Bay #6)
Wedding Favors (Bluewater Bay, #7) by Anne Tenino
The Deep of the Sound (Bluewater Bay, #8) by Amy Lane – release date of June 15, 2015
When to Hold Them (Bluewater Bay, #9) by G.B. Gordon – release date of August 17, 2015
Christmas Comes to Bluewater Bay (The Bluewater Bay Series) by Deanna Edens Oct 2013 -charity story with proceeds going to the Michigan Humane Society (F/F)

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

The fourth in the Cookbook Series, each written by a different author, Marie Sexton brings us an amazing story in Lost Along the Way. It’s complex, heart-breaking, heart-warming, full of angst and simmering sexual tension, then topped with a sweet layer of love.

When Denver meteorologist, Daniel Whitaker, receives word that his parents have been killed in a car crash, his heart is broken. And it’s not only because they are dead—it’s because he’s been estranged from them for fifteen years and had only recently begun speaking to them again. Now his planned trip to his hometown of Laramie, Wyoming won’t be bringing the joy, healing, and peace he had thought it would. His parents rejected him when he told them he was gay and that he planned to spend his life with his soulmate, Chris. Though they aren’t legally married, he and Chris are still together, and Daniel thinks of him as his husband.

Three months later, Daniel finally makes his way to his parent’s home to begin the process of cleaning up and selling their house. He hadn’t needed to go there when they passed since they had made arrangements to be buried in their hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, and their neighbor, Landon Kushner, offered to take care of the house until Daniel could get there.

Landon is as far from Daniel’s imagination as he can get. Based on how beautifully he kept up the property, and the fact that he went through the kitchen and got rid of the perishables, Daniel pictures a neat and tidy middle-aged man. The reality is that Landon is gruff, built, sloppy, but sexy, with a beard that is far past neat and bordering on scruffy. But he has a heart of gold and offers to help Daniel sort and clean out the house. Daniel takes him up on the offer in exchange for giving Landon many of the knickknacks from the overly cluttered house. Each weekend they work together and Daniel sees more and more that Landon is all about joy and freedom. His wind sculptures—huge monstrosities of scrap metal are not ugly like Daniel first thought—they’re beautiful, wild creations that capture the spirit of both the land and the man who created them.

When “Recipes for the Heart: Mystical Meals and Dangerous Desserts” by Granny B. is delivered to Daniel’s address with Landon’s name on it, the real fun begins.

Daniel has been realizing more and more that he is happier on the weekends with Landon than he is on the weekdays at his job and with Chris. Chris has been cold and distant for months and turns down every opportunity to go to Laramie with Daniel. He also works evenings and weekends—when he is working and not losing another job. They have no sex life either, so as the stress of traveling back and forth and getting no support from Chris starts to wear on Daniel, he begins to wonder if they should stay together or break up. Then one morning after going for a jog, Daniel discovers that Landon has made bread from the Granny B cookbook and the sexual tension heats up. Each recipe in the cookbook solves a problem, or brings out an emotion, and apparently this particular bread brings on the sexual tension, so much so, that Daniel escapes quickly and goes home to shower. In the shower, he’s seized with images of Landon taking a shower at the same time across the street at his home. Though it’s in his imagination, the sex that follows feels very real, and it shows him that he really needs to do something about Chris.

What happens, and what Daniel finds out when he decides to make the meatloaf that is “for finding what was lost along the way”, shocks Daniel and turns his world upside down.

I really liked this story. I’ve always loved a slow burn/ust story and this one definitely has that and more. Plus, the characters are so well-described and their personalities so well-developed, that I felt like I knew them. To me, this is the best of the series to date. As I stated at the beginning of this review, it was romance at its best. This one is a beautiful love story of not only one man for another, but of family—both family of origin and family of the heart—and it’s one of those stories where the HEA is so worth the wait! Don’t hesitate to buy this book.

Cover Art by Reese Dante depicts a loaf of bread in front of an open cookbook. Since that bread features prominently in a very interesting scene in this story, the cover is perfect for this book and ties it to others in the series.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 128 pages
Published April 15th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
original titleLost Along the Way
ISBN139781632168580
edition languageEnglish
seriesTales of the Curious Cookbook

Tales of the Curious Cookbook series:

6 works, 5 primary works.
Five fun and fanciful stories about a rather curious cookbook!

Authors and Their Stories:

RJ Scott – For a Rainy Afternoon (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by R.J. Scott
Amy Lane – Food for Thought (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by Amy Lane
Marie Sexton – Lost Along the Way (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by Marie Sexton
Amber Kell – Cookies for Courting (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by Amber Kell
Mary Calmes – Just Desserts (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by Mary Calmes
RJ Scott – Tales of the Curious Cookbook by R.J. Scott

Tag: A Barb the Zany Old Lady Highly Recommended Read

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review: Wedding Favors (A Bluewater Bay story, #7) by Anne Tenino

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review – Lost Along the Way (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by Marie Sexton

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